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#RateLimitIsOverParty: Is Twitter getting hacked and what does the error 'rate limit exceeded' really mean?

The glitch in the social media site gave rise to endless speculation, with some suggesting that the site is testing a paid version of Twitter

Twitter has grown to become one of the favorite social media platforms of Internet users, especially during the pandemic, thanks to its facility that enables users to address various issues daily. However, on Monday, August 3, Twitter itself became trouble when its users started receiving the error "rate limit exceeded" when they tried to access their accounts. 

Some Twitter users who could manage to access the site soon started the new trend #RateLimitIsOverParty lashing out at Twitter for not fixing the issue from their end, which has been causing a lot of inconvenience. Twitter Support, however, did issue a statement addressing the error, which read, "You may have seen a 'rate limit exceeded' message when trying to access Twitter recently. We’re working on fixing a problem with our backend system and you'll be back to your Tweets soon."

A majority of users seemed extremely confused about the situation as they were seen asking their fellow users to decipher the infamous twitter error notification for them. One internet user noted, "Basically some people look under their tweet and see 'rate limit exceeded' and they have no clue what’s going on."

The glitch in the social media site gave rise to endless speculation, with some suggesting that the testing for a paid version of Twitter was underway, causing the error. "stfu I just read that the reason I’m getting rate limit exceeded on twitter is because the CEO of twitter is testing the app for a paid version???? can someone debunk this I am: scared." Meanwhile, many sounded alarmed about the app being hacked. One tweet read, "Twitter is getting hacked again. This time with a 'rate limit exceeded' error. Perhaps Twitter should focus less on censoring conservatives and more on improving their product?"

Another concerned user expressed, "Rate limit exceeded keeps popping up and it changed my background to dark blue as well. Something weird is going on. I hope Twitter as not been hacked by a foreign government. Hell I guess I should be more worried about our government hacking Twitter and gathering info on is."

The rate limit is a system kept in place by Twitter to determine how many hits to the API it allows. Simply put, it limits the number of times a user can access the platform to avoid overload. It also slows the rate at which the messages or posts load by limiting the access in case of an overcapacity. The fact that the number of attempts for accessing Twitter was limited didn't serve its users well and they dragged the technical support system into the cancel culture with #RateLimitIsOverParty. One of them tweeted, "This rate limit gonna be the end of yall #ratelimitisoverparty"

And one Internet user called the site out for being "incompetent" as it crashed due to an overload in its access. "#ratelimitisoverparty 'rate limit exceeded' = twitter API is overcapacity. yet again, this dumb website is incompetent. you're welcome."

What does the rate limit exceed mean to you as a user?